Project Gateway
by Inferni
Summary: The agenda of Tails' doppelganger grows ever more confounding with each machination. When another hedgehog joins the cast of unwilling puppets, the hunt for the Chaos Emeralds is on, and an unforeseen doom draws ever closer. Book 3 of the Bloodlines Saga.
1. Ensnared

Bloodlines Saga:  
1. [The Strings of Time]  
2. [Ghost ARK]  
3. [Project Gateway]  
4. ?

* * *

**Project Gateway**

When we think of the future, pictures of glittering sky scrapers covering the world in chrome jump to mind. Hovercars flying in lines like metal streams, people in silver jumpsuits walking side-by-side with robots and consuming food in the form of pills and pastes. The truth, though, isn't so vividly different as these science-fiction fantasies would lead us to believe.

Even more than two hundred years after the time of Sonic and his friends, Mobius looked little different than it had in ages past. Its residents still live in cities and out in the countryside, and though their understanding of technology had increased, its only manifestations were in small and mostly insignificant advances; a new phone here, a different style of dishwasher there.

The cities themselves had undergone little change. Some buildings had been demolished, new ones built and others remodeled, but still the basic model of life remained the same. Anthropomorphic animals walked the many streets; laughing, playing, shopping, living. The park was surprisingly uncrowded despite the lovely summer day, only a few mobians playing with a ball out in the field and a lone hedgehog by the fountain.

Silver inhaled the warm air deeply, his ear twitching as he heard the excited yells of nearby children. It was a day off for him, since the construction group he spent most of his free time building homes with was getting too far ahead of their architects. His telekinetic abilities were probably at fault for that, their immense value in heavy lifting increasing twicefold increasing efficiency. The hedgehog found he enjoyed the work though - he'd always enjoyed civic projects and finding new ways to improve the lives of others.

A raindrop spattered the tip of the mobian's nose, causing him to blink in confusion and look up. Several dark clouds had formed in the skies above, already beginning to sprinkle moisture down from the heavens above. Strange. He hadn't even seen any clouds a few minutes ago, much less expected rain today.

As more water began to fall and soak Silver's fur, the albino hedgehog threw up a shield over his head as a makeshift umbrella. Getting up and stretching, he prepared to head out and find somewhere drier to waste what was left of the day.

"Going somewhere?"

The hedgehog stopped dead, his head whipping around to the fountain. He'd been looking at it not two seconds ago and nobody was there, but now a demonic figure was perched atop the fountainhead. His form suggested some sort of narrow-faced canid as a base, but had been horrifically warped; solidified and spiked into a body of grayish, jagged crystal. Twin tails of churning violet twisted around the shade's obsidian highlights, staring at Silver with a frigid intensity that matched the now frozen water of the edifice he stood upon.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, the only sound of water pattering the earth around them, the hard _tk-tk-tk_ as they struck the stranger's hardened body and the _thwonng_ of rain bouncing off the disk of energy above Silver's head. A flash of light went off in the distance, followed by the crack of thunder. Then the hedgehog finally spoke, his eyes narrowing.

"I was."

The shadowy being tilted his head, slitted eyes seemingly piercing the other's soul. "Indulge me, then. I'd like to make you an offer."

"Does it involve selling my soul?" asked the hedgehog sarcastically.

The stranger levitated off from his perch, floating forward as he continued to talk, which simultaneously seemed impossible since he lacked any sort of mouth. "Nothing nearly so dramatic. In fact, my proposition doesn't even cost you a thing... Save for a little work on your part."

"Uh-huh," Silver replied. He might have bought that once, when he was fourteen or so. "That sounds more than slightly too good to be true. So really... What's the catch?"

Touching down only a few feet in front of the albino hedgehog, the shade continued to hold him in a locked gaze; unblinking and unwavering. "The 'catch' would be the prize."

Silver just continued to return the stare, his brow furrowing.

"...Perhaps it's better to show you," said the stranger, raising a clawed hand and somehow snapping his crystal fingers.

The albino hedgehog crossed his arms, waiting with evident disbelief. When nothing happened after a few seconds, he turned around, saying: "I don't see an-"

The words died on his lips as he finally looked up and beheld a great flame burning impossibly in the rain. Trapped inside the fire was a figure in obvious pain, a young female cat, her fur blackened and burning, unclasped hair spilling over her shoulders.

"...Blaze?" asked Silver, his eyes dilated as he could do naught but gaze. His Blaze? His long-lost childhood friend? No, it couldn't be... She'd utterly vanished a few years ago, not even a trace to where the cat had gone left behind. It was like she'd been suddenly just... Snuffed out of existence. This creature was obviously just trying to use her memory to get the hedgehog to do his bidding... And yet...

"I know where she is," said the shade, "and better yet: how to save her."

The albino hedgehog's head angled back down, a righteous anger building in his yellow eyes as they settled on this malevolent-looking benefactor. "Who did this? Who spirited her away into that hell?"

"That would have been herself," the demon replied simply.

"I don't believe you!" shouted the hedgehog, launching a psychic wave point blank at the shade. However, to Silver's astonishment, his antagonist was no longer there. The blast smashed into the fountain and cracked the stone, blasting off the upper half of the edifice entirely. Searching around wildly for his opponent, the hedgehog found him standing calmly the same distance behind him.

"You don't need to," said the shade, "you can ask her yourself. Find the seven Chaos Emeralds, and the path to your friend will become clear."

"The Chaos Emeralds?" repeated Silver. He knew of the fabled set of jewels. He'd even used their powers on more than one occasion to battle his nemesis; Eggman NEGA. But why was this strange entity giving him this information? How would they lead him to Blaze? Something definitely wasn't adding up.

"Here," said the stranger, suddenly producing a brilliant crimson jewel from seemingly nowhere and tossing it to the suspicious hedgehog. Raising up his right hand, the mobian caught it with ease, and found himself staring into the radiance of the Red Chaos Emerald.

"That leaves only six more to find," he continued, a dark orb appearing in one of his open claws and rapidly growing, "and I'll leave you with a starting point to the rest."

Violet and indigo lightning streaked off the ball as it flew off of the shade's hand and landed behind him, becoming large enough to lose a small car in its chaotic depths. Turning toward the portal, a single slitted eye cast a shoulder glance back to the albino hedgehog as the mysterious being slowly stepped toward the waiting whirlwind of darkness.

"Wait!" shouted Silver, causing the corporeal shadow to momentarily halt. "Before you go... What's your name?"

Unbeknownst to the hedgehog, the demon smiled internally as the puppeteer's strings silently coiled around the limbs of a new victim. As he continued forward and was lost to the liquid shadow of the portal, the shade called back: "Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark."

Silver hesitated only a moment before running in after, the rift snapping shut behind him.

* * *

ALTERNATE SCENE:

Trapped inside the fire was a figure in obvious pain. Silver looked back down in confusion to find the shade had grown a mouth full of pointed teeth and was now singing into a microphone.

"DEVON! WON'T GO TO HEAVEN! SHE'S JUST ANOTHER LOST SOUL ABOUT TO BE MINE!"


	2. Afterparty

Oddly enough, the topic of conversation aboard the Egg Shuttle on its return voyage was silence. Tails had been fussed over by all the girls since he'd been found with multiple injuries at the bottom of the ARK (except Rouge of course, who was above such things). Sonic and Knuckles hadn't strayed far either, keeping a suspicious eye on the others present even though the kitsune had stated multiple times that his injuries were the fault of falling and battling Artificial Chaos.

On the other side of the bay, the stares were mostly ignored. Eggman was busily at work dismantling the remaining accessories of the Egg Walker, apparently having returned to the conclusion that a flying weapons platform was superior to a ground-based one. Bokkun hovered nearby, while Decoe and Bocoe remained in the cockpit flying the ship back to Mobius. Aside the little messenger robo, Shadow and Rouge both leaned on the wall with plenty of space between one another.

And then there was the third hedgehog; the stranger the rescuers had found standing over the kitsune in Hell's basement. Initially taking him to be the fox's assailant, Sonic would've attacked the other hedgehog on sight had Tails not come to and talked his adopted sibling down. And so the albino hedgehog was tolerated as a guest, but neither trusted nor accepted by either group.

That suited him just fine, Silver thought. Though what little he'd gathered from the fox as the latter had passed in and out of consciousness revealed a kindred spirit who had also had dealings with Mephiles (a suspicion he had come to quickly after realizing the physical resemblance of the two), he trusted strangers as readily as the shade and wasn't here to make friends. He was here on a mission. It also didn't particularly help that this 'Eggman' was chillingly familiar to the NEGA version who was a constant adversary of the albino hedgehog.

And so nobody said anything, the factions resigning themselves to brooding and leering at one another.

Amongst the quiet, Tails' recovery went by mostly unnoticed. After inquiring with Eggman and rummaging around the front of the shuttle, Cream had managed to dig up a first aid kit and brought it back to Amy and Cosmo. Setting the bone back in place hadn't been painless, and even Shadow winced once at one of the fox's cries. After a few application of health root, he'd slipped into unconsciousness again as his body quickly began to repair the damage it had sustained. The burn on his right tail receded into an off-color patch of skin, the bone of his arm knitting itself slowly back together. Even the swollen lump on the back of his head decreased in size until barely visible against his fur.

As the bump marking the shuttle's re-entry to Mobius's atmosphere nudged the ship, the kitsune's eyes shot open and he bolted upright in surprise only to be pushed back down by the two of the three girls. "Wha- Where-" he began before Amy shushed him, Cream telling the fox to ease up more slowly as the rabbit offered a glass of water. Taking it carefully and taking a few tentative sips, he listened as the female hedgehog filled him in on their hasty flight to the ARK and getting the kitsune back to Eggman's ship, Silver's telekinesis helping to clear much of the debris that had blocked them getting in.

At the mention of the albino hedgehog, Tails went alert again, scanning the room and seeing the stranger on his own near the back of the hold. When he tried to rise, however, his groggy senses finally took note of the weight in his lap, looking down to find Cosmo asleep on his chest, her hair and buds a stressful mess.

"She was worried out of her mind," explained Amy, "and wouldn't leave you for second after we found you. She kept saying it was 'all her fault' you were so badly wounded and that she wasn't strong enough to help."

The fox smirked, pushing a curl of leafy hair off of the sleeping seedrian's face. This unintentionally caused the sleeping beauty to stir, wide eyes fluttering open. Putting her head up, she blinked once staring at the kitsune before practically tackling him back into the makeshift cot.

"-" she started babbling out semi-incoherently before the fox and the other girls could calm her back down. Sniffing back tears, she settled for simply clutching the fur of his chest, saying: "You could've died, and all because I couldn't even hold up a simple barrier…"

"Hey," he responded, "hey, hey, hey. That was by no means your fault, alright? If it weren't for you, that monster would've gotten us both!" he pulled her into a hug, continuing: "I'm not going anywhere; at least not without you."

They embraced, Tails tenderly getting to his feet afterwards. Glancing over at the albino hedgehog, the kitsune walked over to him, pausing a few feet away. The unspoken tension in the air went up another notch as numerous eyes rested on the pair…

The fox extended a hand, smiling. "I never properly introduced myself. My name's Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails."

Silver blinked, a bit taken aback. Then, also smiling, he took the kitsune's hand and shook it. "Good to see you doing better, Tails."

"So if you don't mind me asking," said the fox, withdrawing his hand, "Where did you come from Silver? You seemed to just sort of… appear. At least, that's what I thought I saw, but I know I wasn't fully aware at the time."

The hedgehog's eyelids flickered, topaz eyes glancing up into a corner as if he was having trouble recalling for a moment. Then: "Knothole City."

Bombshell dropped, everyone just stared at Silver. Even Tails seemed momentarily stunned. Glancing around, the albino hedgehog asked: "What? Has nobody been there?"

"What kind of fools do you take us for?" Knuckles shouted across the room, raising a spiked fist. "Knothole isn't a city! It's barely a hamlet!"

"Well of course it's a-" started Silver, stopping midsentence as his eyes dilated. "Wait. What?"

The fox crossed his arms. "Knuckles isn't lying. Most of us live in Knothole – it's got a population barely over a hundred."

The hedgehog's pupils shrunk to pinpricks. Then, very quietly, he asked: "Does someone know the date?"

Raising an eyebrow, Tails flipped open his communicator and showed Silver the time, which read: September 8, 4029 A.N. The hedgehog almost fell over in shock, staggering over to a wall for support. "I'm… I went…" he stuttered disbelievingly.

The fox tilted his head, the others sparing one another curious glances, but all waited for the telekinetic to regain his composure.

Slowly, Silver got back to his feet, staring resolutely forward. "It would seem… I've traveled into the past. By more than two hundred years."

A mixture of surprise and disbelief splashed on the faces of everyone else present. In a moment, however, Shadow had vanished and reappeared right in front of his and Sonic's future counterpart. "How?" he asked bluntly, red eyes narrowed.

Even though he was slightly taller, the other hedgehog took a step back, once again blinking. "I- I don't know. I stepped into a rift opened in the park and came out on that space station."

The ultimate life form's eyes narrowed even more. "And where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to the Red Chaos Emerald in the time traveler's hand.

"This?" the albino hedgehog asked dumbly, "Er- it was given to me. I actually need to find the other six, it was half the reason I came here."

Shadow's eyelids were so low now he was almost squinting. "Then why didn't you just stay in your own time to find them? Stop telling half-truths. I want the whole one. _Now_."

A gloved hand on the black hedgehog's shoulder caused him to whip his head around and find Sonic there looking equally unfriendly. "Ease up Shadow, the first time I met you it wasn't on anywhere near as good of circumstances, and we still wound up friends."

The ultimate life form shoved the hand off his shoulder with thinly-veiled disgust, saying flatly: "We are not friends," before walking away.

"Don't mind him," said the hero, "So what do you need the Chaos Emeralds for anyway?"

Silver, who had been watching the black hedgehog stroll back to his former spot, snapped his eyes back to before him. It was odd, he felt like he knew everyone here, and yet he'd never seen any of them in his life, not to mention they were probably long dead in his time. "Oh… Well I have an old friend who's in trouble, but I don't know how to reach her. Supposedly the emeralds can help fix that."

The blue hedgehog smiled. "Well, I don't think I've ever used the emeralds as a radar before, but it sounds like a fun adventure to me!"

"You're forgetting," said Shadow from across the room, "That I have two of the jewels you need."

"One, actually," came the voice of Eggman, a moment before a robotic claw seized the Blue Chaos Emerald from the ultimate life form and drew it back to the once again operational Eggmobile.

The black hedgehog glared dagger at his creator's grandson. "You dare, Doctor?"

"I tried to keep you as an ally Shadow," responded Ivo, gazing at the brilliant gemstone. "You are unquestionably the greatest weapon my grandfather ever created. But the Chaos Emeralds are mine, and mine alone. You aren't even willing to share one anymore, so why should I be bothered to maintain a working relationship?"

Adjusting his glasses, Eggman grinned wickedly as he stowed the emerald and floated higher off from the cargo floor, Bokkun following suit in a pitch of the little robo's annoying giggles. "And now, if you don't mind, I find it rather cramped in here. I think it's about time we let in a little… Fresh air!"

A groan echoed from beneath the hold, the entire floor jolting as something shifted beneath their feet. The air suddenly snapped as the pressure of the hold broke, and the entire floor split in two, sending the entire company of mobians tumbling out into open air as Eggman's shuttle quickly sped away, the Doctor's signature cackle mocking them over their cries of surprise as they entered freefall.


End file.
